Supply and demand thoughts based on eBay

akuracy503

Being a baseball card guy I'm fairly new to the bullion market, in the card world we can somewhat guage the market by eBay sales, auctions, amount of bids, final price etc.

I've noticed in the silver buillion/coin auctions on eBay that there is a very high volume of sales and high number of bidders, the beautiful part is that all of this action is happening through auction listings.

In today's card world it would be suicide and leaving money on the table by listing an auction, the BIN's and best offer listings rule the market in the card world.
What a difference the buillion market is today compared to sports cards.

Has the buillion supply and demand always been supported according to eBay history?
When did it get hot, have you always been confident enough to list items in auction vs BIN's?

jmski52

Yes, always - except for the fact that I stopped doing ebay 2 1/3 years ago because of their outrageous policies that put the seller at risk while allowing flakey buyers free reign. Other than that, bullion auctions are pretty much a reflection of the real market.

57loaded

i also think the pulse is on eBay more than some would admit.

a few years back i would buy lots of junk silver for under melt +shipping, it was still auction. i had a top price in my mind (coinflation -~5%), bid it early and either won it or lost it. if i won, good. if i lost no worries.

can't tell you when it started to get hot, havent bought anything off of eBay in about 3 years.

PinkFloyd

eBay is a double-edged sword. The fees and unscrupulous buyers have made it a pain. But where else are you going to find such a huge marketplace? I use it very cautiously and am very careful about wording/terms/buyer requirements if I'm selling something.

I do agree that it is a pulse on a lot of items.

OPA

If you list your items via the Auction Style instead of BIN, you'll do ok on eBay, even with the fees, when it comes to any sort of bullion items. It's been like that for years. Silver spot +$3 - $4 pr oz is not unusual for common stuff.

gecko109

<< <i>Being a baseball card guy I'm fairly new to the bullion market, in the card world we can somewhat guage the market by eBay sales, auctions, amount of bids, final price etc.

I've noticed in the silver buillion/coin auctions on eBay that there is a very high volume of sales and high number of bidders, the beautiful part is that all of this action is happening through auction listings.

In today's card world it would be suicide and leaving money on the table by listing an auction, the BIN's and best offer listings rule the market in the card world.
What a difference the buillion market is today compared to sports cards.

Has the buillion supply and demand always been supported according to eBay history?
When did it get hot, have you always been confident enough to list items in auction vs BIN's? >>






Baseball cards have "book value" which is usually an inflated number in most cases. That is why you see most cards listed as true auctions fail to get what you or some price guide thinks they are worth. Unlike baseball cards, bullion's value is set daily by the world markets. I can open any business section in any major newspaper anywhere in the world and know what the current value of gold is. You cant do that with a 1985 Topps Roger Clemens in a PSA 9.

So to answer your question, about the liveliness and liquidity of the bullion market.....yes, its always been that way. Cards are relatively liquid as well, just not for the prices you sometimes falsley inflate them to appear to be. Remember the number 1 rule in buying and selling....PEOPLE buy and sell things....price guides do not!

57loaded

<< <i>

Baseball cards have "book value" which is usually an inflated number in most cases. That is why you see most cards listed as true auctions fail to get what you or some price guide thinks they are worth. Unlike baseball cards, bullion's value is set daily by the world markets. I can open any business section in any major newspaper anywhere in the world and know what the current value of gold is. You cant do that with a 1985 Topps Roger Clemens in a PSA 9.

So to answer your question, about the liveliness and liquidity of the bullion market.....yes, its always been that way. Cards are relatively liquid as well, just not for the prices you sometimes falsley inflate them to appear to be. Remember the number 1 rule in buying and selling....PEOPLE buy and sell things....price guides do not! >>



well stated

derryb

Ebay remains a true market place where buyer and seller set the price. Supply of PMs on Ebay is always high and believe it or not, helps keep the price from being higher than it could be. Just because silver spot is $34 doesn't mean silver is worth $34. Ebay says it is worth more and I tend to believe the true market. I have noted a decline in the supply of gold eagles available on ebay which in turn has driven up the price of them on ebay.

Ebay kinda reminds me of going to the county farm market with grandma way back when. Prices constantly changed and were always determined by how many farmers showed up and how many tomatos they put on display (the smart farmer hid most of his inventory in the back of the truck). If few buyers came out price went down. Supply and demand forces at work. A real shame our national economy discarded this magnificent business model and let government and politics dictate value and prices.